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> The ISPs are rolling in cash. Common myth. - Comcast made merely $2B in profits last year.[verified] - ATT made around $5B from wireline data last year. [un
by tn135 9y ago
> The ISPs are rolling in cash.
Common myth.
- Comcast made merely $2B in profits last year.[verified]
- ATT made around $5B from wireline data last year. [unverified]
A lot of people think these are monopolies with the help of government without realising that a lot of companies including Google tried to bring disruption and have failed. Part of the reason why not many people are wasting their capital on wireline is because it is unlikely to give better results.
ISPs have terrible customer service because most of their efforts are going into keeping those wires and fibres intact. I would rather have a good working internet service and a bad call center rep than opposite.
Not to mention when you don't allow companies like Comcast etc. to bring cheaper labor from India, they will be forced to spend more hiring American college grads and spend more cash on their training etc. We have to pay for it in the bill.
- forgotmysn 9y ago> merely $2B in profits last year I've never seen billions of dollars in profits dismissed so casually. >ISPs have terrible customer service because most of their efforts are going into keeping those wires and fibres intact. ISP's in other countries, even ones of similar scale to the US, don't have to chose between quality customer service and quality internet service. To call your argument facile would be overly generous.
- jdminhbg 9y ago> I've never seen billions of dollars in profits dismissed so casually. Comcast has around 25 million customers [0], so that's around $65/year/customer. So if you cut that profit to $0, you can return $5/month on combined TV and internet to each customer. When people say "cable and internet are so expensive," they don't generally mean "if I got a $5 price cut I would be happy." [0]: http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/comcast-statistics/ http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/comcast-statistics/
- forgotmysn 9y agoI'm not suggesting that fast, consistent internet service is cheap to provide. However, I'm also not convinced that comcast's prices aren't as high as they are, and their margins as low as they are, only because its a costly service to provide. It's also because they are really bad at providing it. But that wasn't even my main point. My point is that Comcast is more interested in providing a return to their shareholders than they in providing effective and satisfying customer service.
- rayiner 9y ago> It's also because they are really bad at providing it. What makes you think that? A huge chunk of an ISPs' operating expenses go to paying people to move dirt around, and the metal and plastic they put in the dirt. How do you expect to disrupt that?
- forgotmysn 9y agoSecond hand experience. My father owned and operated a small tv + ISP (cable when I was young, Internet by the time I was in middle school), and my uncle still operates his. Both have or had ~50k subscribers. My father sold his system to Comcast and worked for them for a while before quitting, frustrated by inefficiencies and dissatisfied customers, and his experience is the reason my Uncle is holding out from selling.
- tptacek 9y agoI ran an ISP (then Chicago's most popular) in the mid-1990s, and even then, the whole enterprise mostly relied on infrastructure provided by telcos, who were required to lease us POPs under fair and reasonable terms.
- forgotmysn 9y agolol seriously thomas what haven't you done? always finding new ways to impress me...
- tn135 9y ago> ISP's in other countries, even ones of similar scale to the US Which are those countries ? India, China?
- cdrark 9y agoHow much did they spend on acquiring movie studios, television stations, etc. etc. unrelated from the core utility business? My internet connection fees shouldn't be subsidizing media conglomeration.